The Moose and The Trickster
by gayngel
Summary: High School AU that centers mainly around Sam Winchester and Gabriel Novak, though there will be hints of Dean/Castiel later on in the story.
1. Introductions

Sam and Dean never stayed in one place for long. Their father's line of work meant that they had to move around a lot. It was because of this that they found themselves carrying boxes into yet another house in yet another state. For once, Dean was more annoyed at this than Sam was. He'd just turned sixteen, gotten himself into a semi-serious relationship, and had then been dragged halfway across the country to Lima, Ohio. It was a fairly decent house their father had bought, but neither of the boys cared much about that. Sam just wanted to be able to shut himself in his room and play Xbox, and Dean wanted to see if the family across the road had any daughters – preferably twins.

Gabriel and Castiel were the youngest of the Novaks. They shared the house with mother and five siblings – Michael, who acted as a father figure since their father was never around; Lucifer, who generally had a short temper; Balthazar, who they all swore was not related to him because he actually studied for things; Raphael, who tended to keep to himself; and Anna, their only sane sibling. Having so many siblings could get tiresome, so they all made lists of who could enter their rooms. Castiel's said they could all enter, but Gabriel's was incredibly specific.

"Who can come in;

Michael – When he's bringing food

Castiel

Balthazar – when he's not looking for money

Anna

Crowley – As long as he's not with Luci

Who can't;

Michael – when he has my report card

Raphael

Lucifer – not now, not ever.

Mom

Any of Luci's friends – that means you, Meg.

Ruby – if I see her in this house again, I will torch the place. No joke.

.-.; Come in without permission and I will hurt you."

At first, they all thought Gabriel's sign was a joke, and Raphael brought his girlfriend Ruby back to the house. They had to wrestle Gabriel to the ground to stop him actually setting fire to the place. Apparently, he wasn't good with people getting close enough to his family to hurt them. Nor was he joking about torching the place.

Therefore, it was no surprise that he wasn't too excited when some new family moved in across the street. To him, it just meant more to protect Castiel from. Castiel might have been older than him, but he was definitely the more oblivious, easy to manipulate one. So, Gabriel had taken it upon himself to look after his brother. The two had a stronger bond than any of their siblings' bonds combined. Castiel told Gabriel everything, and, in return, Gabriel told Castiel everything. It had been hard at first to open up, even to Castiel, but Gabriel trusted his brother not to tell anyone anything he said unless he really had to. It was because of this close bond that Gabriel had been the one Castiel had gone to when he knew no one else would accept him for who he was. Like Castiel had hoped, Gabriel really didn't care if Castiel preferred guys over girls. Gabe himself went for anything with a pulse, so he couldn't exactly judge his brother.

**AN. If you're still reading this, thank you so much. I'm really sorry at how short this chapter was. Hopefully, the next one will be longer. And, I'm sorry if there's random line breaks in the middle of things. Word decided to be an asshole. **


	2. New School

**AN. To all of you who're reading this, I thank you. You guys are really great. Also, apologies in advance; I am not familiar with the American school system, so if you guys could help me out here, I would love you forever. (I probably will anyway, but still.)**

Sam was curious. The neighbours across the road seemed to have quite a few kids – seven if he'd counted right. Two of them looked in their twenties, one of them looked eighteen, another looked seventeen, the only daughter he'd seen looked Dean's age, as did another of the boys and, he guessed the last one was around his age but his height was really throwing him off. Sam understood that he was tall for a fourteen year old, but, this kid seemed unbelievably short. Unfortunately, he had had no time to go over and introduce himself to the family, as he and Dean had spent the last week unpacking. Sam was hoping to have just been able to leave his things packed, but John had insisted he unpack them. Dean being his usual uncaring self had just tipped his things onto the floor and kicked them around a little to clear a path from the door of his room to his bed. Sam, on the other hand, had taken his time in unpacking, making sure everything had a place and that everything looked tidy.

After that initial week of unpacking, he still had no time to introduce himself, as the two boys had to start their new school. On Monday morning, Sam and Dean piled into the backseat of the Impala, their dad driving him to the local high school. The two headed straight to the office to collect their time tables once the car stopped. Dean made his way to his first hour class, Science, and Sam headed to his, PE.

Sam wandered round the school as he attempted to find the PE block, having not mastered how to read maps yet. His brow was furrowed, and his head down, staring at the map, as he walked.

"Lost?" A voice asked, making him stop. His brown eyes rested on a pair of white sneakers for a few moments before they travelled upwards, coming to see the short boy from across the road. The boy had honey coloured eyes that shone slightly with a hint of mischief, and hair that was a mixture between blond and brunet. He wore loose jeans, and a grey V-neck shirt, and he held himself with an air of care freeness.

"Uh, yeah, I'm looking for the PE department." Sam nodded hesitantly, not quite trusting those mischievous eyes.

"Brilliant! That's where I'm headed too. Gabriel, by the way. Novak, if ya want to be formal." The boy grinned, turning on his heel and beckoning for Sam to follow him.

"Sam. Sam Winchester." Sam answered, following him slowly. Gabriel's grin widened as they reached the PE department.

"You go get changed, Sammy boy." Gabriel grinned, holding the door open for him. "I'll make myself useful and give you and alibi for being so late."  
"Uh, what about you?"  
"Don't need one. Teachers are used to me by now. One thing, Sammy, don't let the rules hold you back or your time here is going to be very boring."


	3. PE Class

**AN. You know what? There's someone I really love, because they keep reading this. Wanna know who? Read the first line. No joke, I love you guys for reading this. **

**I'm incredibly sorry that my chapters are so short. I'm still getting used to writing these characters. Plus, I've never done a chapter fic before! It's all very exciting for me. Anyways, I'l stop talking - err, typing - now, and let you get on with the story. c:**

* * *

When Sam returned, he wore a pair of black shorts and a loose grey tee. Gabriel was making up some story that included grand hand gestures – either that or he just enjoyed flinging his arms around when he spoke. The shorter boy looked up as Sam arrived, a grin plastered to his face.

"Sammy boy!" The blond greeted cheerily, making no attempt to hide the fact that he was clearly checking him out. Sam shifted uncomfortably, feeling his cheeks burn.

"So, I was just saying how you got lost and didn't know where you were then I, your knight in shining armour, swooped in and saved the day." He continued, and Sam was surprised his face hadn't split from how wide he was smiling.

"Yeah, because that's totally what happened, Gabriel." He snorted, receiving a huff from the pocket sized boy.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Gabriel drawled, rolling his eyes as he made to walk past him. As the boy reached Sam's side, he leant up on his tiptoes and whispered, "Nice ass, by the way." Sam made a strangled choking nose, turning his head to glare at Gabriel – though most of the effect was lost due to the blush spreading on his cheeks. Gabriel just smirked and strutted away to join the rest of the class, who were in the middle of a game of dodge ball. Slowly, Sam followed him over, leaning against the wall of the gymnasium. Dodge ball had never really been his thing. It was hard to dodge when you were his size.

After about five minutes of just watching the others play, Gabriel headed over to him; face red and forehead beaded with sweat.

"You not playing, Sammy?" He panted, scrunching up his face.

"Dodge ball isn't really my thing." Sam shrugged. "And, Gabriel? It's _Sam. _Not Sammy, Samsquatch or anything else. Just Sam."

"So, Sam. Do you like green eggs and ham?" Gabriel grinned, backing back into the game. "You have fun watching a class of boys get all hot and sweaty, Sammy. Who am I to judge? If that's what does it for you, then, I ain't gonna stop you."

"I hate you." Sam groaned, face flushing bright red. Despite this, he still stayed leaning against the wall, observing the game. He watched as Gabriel dodged the ball with ease – catching it even seemed to be even easier – and tossed it at members of the opposing team. He watched the way his brow furrowed in concentration just before he threw and, honestly, Sam found it made him even more attractive. _And you, Sam, should not be thinking about that because you only just met the guy. _Of course, every time Sam's mind strayed to that subject, his cheeks would turn a rather alarming shade of red. And, of course, Gabriel would always pick up on this and do something to make Sam blush even harder – be it a suggestive wink, or a few times he even licked his lips whilst making eye contact with him. And, if that wasn't hot, Sam didn't know what was.

The game was over pretty quickly – _too _quickly in Sam's opinion – and the boys made their way to the changing rooms like a flock of sheep. A very loud and perverted flock of sheep, that is. Despite Sam's efforts to avoid him, the youngest Winchester found Gabriel glued to his side from the very second they left the gymnasium, and all the way to the changing rooms – and even in the changing rooms he was reluctant to leave Sam to go to his own locker, which Sam found sweet; but would never admit if you asked him.

* * *

Gabriel didn't know why he was being so protective of Sam. He was just another kid in this hellhole of a school. One more person to protect Cas from. But, he still felt the need to look after Sam. It wasn't as if he liked the kid. He flirted with anything that moved. He just felt compelled to look after Sam. He would also never admit it, but he happened to find the taller boy insanely attractive.

Sighing, Gabriel tugged off his shirt, casting a glance over to Sam; finding himself rather disappointed when he saw that he was, in fact, not shirtless. Shaking that mental image out of his head, the blonde hastily got changed out of his PE stuff and closed over his locker. He turned to look at Sam again and saw him doing the same, whilst casting nervous glances around the locker room. Gabriel strutted up to him, plastering on that flirtatious grin.

"Come on, Sammy boy." He grinned, running a hand through his hair lazily. "What you got next?"

"French." Sam grimaced. Gabriel let out a low whistle, shaking his head in mock pity.

"You poor, poor kid." He sighed, patting his shoulder. (It was as high as he could reach.) "Come on, I'll walk you. I don't think I'm going to bother going to Psychology class."

Sam did a double take, "Wait – you're ditching?"

"Yeah, what of it?" Gabriel asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Nothing, nothing. You just didn't seem like the type." Sam explained sheepishly.

"Well, I'd invite you to join me, but we wouldn't want to make a bad impression on your first day."

"Screw impressions. It's not as if I'm going to be here long." Gabriel tilted his head, though a part of him was actually upset at this statement. Sam wouldn't be staying long?

"My dad works with an airline company." Sam shrugged. "We don't stay in one place for very long."

"Doesn't that mean you constantly have to leave friends and stuff behind?" Gabriel frowned.

"I'm used to it, Gabe. It's no biggie. There are usually no friends to leave behind."

"Shit, Sam I-" Sam cut him off.

"Gabriel I swear to god I will break your nose if you tell me you're sorry." Sam deadpanned, glaring. "Now are we skipping class or what?"

"Right, yeah." Gabriel nodded, blushing slightly. "Come on, I know a place no one but my brothers look."

"Lead the way, oh mighty Gabriel." Sam drawled, gesturing for him to go. With that, the two boys set off – Gabriel leading – and slipped out one of the side doors, which Gabriel informed him was the only one without working cameras but if he told anyone that his life would be over, as the school still hadn't worked out it was him that was responsible for that.

* * *

**AN. A slightly longer chapter this time. I hope you guys like it. :3**


	4. Under The Willow

**AN. Another chapter today! C: I'm feeling really productive today. Updates will be slow for a bit, because it's report week next week and we're doing some special Olympics thing to try get extra credit. Hopefully there will be another chapter up by Wednesday, Thursday at the latest but I can't make any promises. Sorry, guys. **

**Also, I got help with the first paragraph. I didn't quite know how to word it and apparently my first draft was inappropriate. xD **

At some point, Gabriel had gotten sick of how slow Sam walked, and had grabbed his hand – despite the taller boy's loud complaints. After about five minutes of walking – no, Gabriel _dragging _Sam – they reached their destination. It was a large Willow tree, and the leaves cascaded down to the ground. The leaves were a deep green in colour – a few of them were even a sort of brown colour. The branches of the tree were spread in such a manner that it was easy to climb them, and they were thick enough to hold a human's weight. Or there was space on the ground underneath the shade of the leaves to sit. It was dark under the leaves, as the blocked out most light. It was perfectly secluded, and smelled like the forest.

"This place is..." Sam trailed off, squinting to try and adjust his eyes as Gabriel led him through the leaves. "Shit, Gabe. I can't see."

"Better?" Gabriel asked, pressing the flashlight app on his phone. He shone it in Sam's direction, seeing relief flit onto the boy's face. "Whoa, Sammy, are you scared of the dark?" Sam's cheeks grew warmer as he cast his eyes down to the dark ground, nodding ever so slightly. He shifted his weight, clearly embarrassed by that fact. At fourteen, he knew he shouldn't still be afraid of the dark, but he was. Every night after both Dean and John had gone to sleep, Sam would get up, trembling, and dart over to his light switch. He didn't know why he was afraid, he just was; and had been for as long as he could remember.

"Sam, geez, it's nothing to be embarrassed about." Gabriel said quietly, stepping closer to him. "I'll let you in on a secret. I'm scared of people getting hurt. I can't be around people when they're hurt. Even if it's not my fault, I can't help but feel like it is. I try so hard to make sure everyone's happy, but I always end up failing and –"

"And even when they're all happy, you're not?" Sam suggested, looking up.

"Yeah," Gabriel sighed. "But, enough of this depressing crap. Let's climb the damn tree. I'll go up first so I can help pull you up. Here, hold this." The blond held his phone out to Sam, who took it gently, before reaching up and grabbing hold of a relatively thin branch. Biting his lip he swung himself up onto the branch; quickly moving onto a thicker one in case that one snapped. Smiling gently, he motioned for Sam to join him – reaching one hand down to take one of Sam's.

"Do you trust me?" He asked, meeting Sam's eyes.

"I must be insane, but, yes." Sam nodded, swallowing back any fear he might have as he grasped Gabriel's hand, and used his free hand to grip a branch. Along with Gabriel's help, he managed to haul himself up, though it wasn't without difficulty. Gabriel gave him a reassuring smile, letting go of his hand.

"It's nice here." Sam remarked casually, wiping the sweat that had formed on his palm when he was holding Gabriel's hand onto his jeans.

"I know." Gabriel smiled. "I love it. No one ever thinks to look here. It means I can actually get some time to myself every once in a while." Sam nodded, leaning back so his head rested against the trunk of the tree. He understood what Gabriel meant. Sometimes things could just get so exhausting and overwhelming. Sometimes you just needed some time to yourself to clear our head and think rationally. He had to pity Gabriel, having all those siblings. Sam found it hard enough to live with just one; so, five would probably be a nightmare for him.

Gabriel chewed his lower lip, casting a glance over at Sam. He guessed they'd been there for a few hours – missed lunch if his calculations were right. About an hour before, Sam had fallen asleep. How he could fall asleep in such an uncomfortable position, Gabriel would never know. The blond watched him for a few more minutes, before internally calling himself a creep and going back to staring at the ground. He didn't understand it. Why did he care so much about this new kid? He was nothing special. Attractive, sure. But, he'd only just met him. He shouldn't be feeling anything towards him. And he certainly shouldn't feel dizzy when their eyes connected, and his stomach _definitely _shouldn't flutter whenever he blushed. It wasn't right. He shouldn't feel like this. Besides, the kid was probably straight as a ruler anyway. Gabriel had no chance. Not to mention the guy had a big brother. If he so much as looked at Sam in a more-than-chaste way around him, he was one hundred percent sure the guy would neuter him. And, quite frankly, Gabriel would like to keep his balls.

Sighing quietly, Gabriel dropped from the branch, cringing at the _thump! _His landing made. He settled at the bottom of the tree, but not before checking that Sam was still asleep. Kid looked like he could really use a decent sleep. _Maybe I'll invite him over later. No... That would be kind of weird. _Gabriel grumbled to himself, eyes closing as he attempted to get a little bit of rest in before Sam woke up. _Maybe he'll let me walk him home. _If his thoughts indicated anything, sleep was going to be very hard for him. Not just now, later that night also.

**AN. It got a little rambly at the end; I apologize. - **


	5. The Walk Home

**AN. Hey, amazing, beautiful people who're reading this. I want to thank you all for reading and reviewing. It really helped motivate me to write more, and it brightened my day considerably. You guys don't know how much it actually means to me that people are reading my work and actually enjoying it. I probably should have put a general warning at the start for cursing, but I'd hope you guys expect cursing since this **_**is **_**the Supernatural fandom. If what's planned in my head actually comes out onto my compute screen and into this fanfiction, I'm just going to drop a warning right here that there will be hints of severe depression later on in the fic. Hopefully, it shouldn't be triggering, but I'll make sure to warn you at the beginning of the chapter just in case. If you don't want to read the chapter for fear it'll be triggering, don't be afraid to send me a message asking for a small summary of the chapter. I don't want you guys getting upset over my writing. If you guys are expecting smut at any point in this fic, I'm sorry to say you'll probably be disappointed. I wouldn't know where to start. Sorry! So, please, enjoy this chapter and try to ignore any grammatical errors there may be – I'm a terrible proof reader. I hope any mistakes that you do see don't ruin the story for you. (I know that when I'm reading fanfiction, a lot of mistakes can really put me off.) And, send in your reviews if you want/have the time to. It's always great to see what you guys think. Okay, I'm going to stop talking now and get on with writing.**

**The very best,**

**Tricky. **

Sam didn't know how long he'd slept for, but he did know that when he woke up, Gabriel was gone. His heart began to hammer in his chest as he stared at the branch where Gabriel had been before he drifted off. A small amount of relief flitted through him as he realized he still had Gabriel's phone in his hand. However, it still posed the question; where in the hell was Gabriel? After casting a glance at the ground, Sam dropped cautiously from the branch, wincing slightly as he landed. Just as he was about to push his way out of the leaves, a small snuffling sound caught his attention. Sam turned around slowly, shining the phone towards the source of the noise. There, curled in the groove between two exposed roots was Gabriel. The blond was curled in a tight ball, his nose resting on his knees, and he made the odd snuffling noise every now and then. Sam couldn't help but stare. It wasn't his fault the smaller boy was completely and utterly adorable when he was asleep. However, Sam couldn't stare for long. He had to wake Gabriel up so he could go home and face the wrath of his father for cutting classes. Kneeling down beside Gabriel, the brunet shook his shoulder lightly.

"Hey, Gabe," He murmured softly. "Wake up, man."

"Piss off." Gabriel yawned as he cracked one eyelid open, revealing a honey colored eye. "Can't you see I was trying to sleep?"

"Yeah, but, Gabe, I only woke up because I could have sworn I heard the bell to signal the end of the day. I mean, I gotta get home, man, but I couldn't just leave you." Gabriel grunted as Sam finished speaking, getting to his feet.

"Whatever." He yawned, stretching his arms above his head. "Doesn't bother me. You could've left me here." Sam rolled his eyes at Gabriel, making to head out of the leaves.

"I'll walk you home." The taller boy offered, smiling a little."I don't think it's safe for you to walk on your own. You look a little disorientated." In truth, Sam couldn't care less if Gabriel was tired. He just wanted an excuse to walk the youngest Novak home. Gabriel merely shrugged in response, stifling another yawn. Taking that as a "Yay, sure Sammy, you can walk me home! I'd love that!", Sam tugged at his wrist and pulled him out of the cover of the trees.

When they broke out of the shade, Sam groaned loudly. It was later than he'd thought. The sun had already begun to set, and the sky was a mixture between a light pink and a dusty blue. The clouds were dark, though the edges tinted with baby pink. Gabriel, too, noticed this.

"Damn, Sammy. We should probably sprint or something." He remarked, casting a glance up at the sky.

"That, Gabriel, is not a bad idea." Sam chuckled, fingers moving down to grasp his hand. If you asked Sam at a later date why he took Gabriel's hand, he'd say it was because they'd move quicker if he had his hand instead of his wrist. However, the only reason Sam took his hand was because he wanted to. It's as simple as that. He just wanted to. With both faces dusted a light red, the boys broke into a run; Gabriel murmuring directions to Sam.

It must have taken about twenty minutes to get back to the street they both lied in, as, by the time they arrived, the sky was growing darker. The streaks of pink had become a violet color, and the street lamps had been turned on. Sam stopped outside his house and turned to Gabriel.

"See you tomorrow?" He asked, a hopeful note lingering in his voice.

"See you tomorrow Sam." Gabriel nodded, grinning. As Sam made his way up the pathway to his house, Gabriel's voice stopped him.

"Hey, Sam!" The blonde grinned, walking back up to him. "You forgot something."

Sam tilted his head, a look of confusion on his face, "What?"

"My phone number." Gabriel smirked, pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket and handing it to Sam before winking and strutting across the road to his own home.

"You are unbelievable, Gabriel Novak!" Sam called after him, rolling is eyes before making his way inside; ready to explain his lateness and lack of attending classes to his father.

**AN. This chapter seems rushed and filler-y to me. Does it seem like that to you guys?**


	6. Quick Note!

**AN: Hey guys! This is just a note to let you all know that I'm so sorry I kind of abandoned this. Pablo died, and I had to wait to get a new laptop. Luckily, Logan works a treat and came with Word already installed. I hope to have a new chapter up within the week! :) Thank you all so, so much for the reviews and favourites. It means a lot to me. 3**


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